The Ronin
by The Phantom Editor
Summary: It's not yet finished, but I'd like to know what y'all think of it. For extra fun, figure out the pun behind the name (It's a toughie!)
1. Rowe

The Ronin  
  
A pokemon one-shot  
  
"Pokeball, GO!!" The trainer shouted, tossing his green and blue pokeball into the ring. Red light sprayed from the pokeball, slowly forming into a Meowth. The other trainer was crouched beside her Machop, giving it a quick coaching before the battle. "Come on! I 'aven't got all day! This is a pokemon battle, not a bloody talk show!!" The trainer, an annoyed look apparent on her face, sent her pokemon into the ring.   
  
"Just use the strategy we talked about, and you'll be fine!" she told her Machop.  
  
"Let's get this fighting-type freak." The Meowth's trainer said.   
  
The Machop rushed toward the little white pokemon, ready to pound it. "NOW!" the trainer said. The Meowth leaped over the fighting pokemon's head, and gave it a Double-Kick to the back of the head. "Chhoopp!" the pokemon squealed, as it fell beneath the kick.   
  
"Get up!" the Machop's trainer yelled, "Get up!!"  
  
The Machop stood, wavering. The Meowth looked to its trainer, who nodded a confirmation. "Meeeeeeeowth!" The cat pokemon threw a handful of coins at the Machop.   
  
"Quick, dodge it!" the fighting pokemon's trainer ordered. But, the pokemon was too slow, and was struck. For a moment, it seemed as though it was unaffected, but then, it started to sway back and forth, then, it fell on its face. The trainer rushed to the pokemon's side, and then recalled it to its pokeball. The Meowth's trainer recalled his pokemon as well, and approached the defeated girl.  
  
"'at'll be fifteen bucks, thank you very much." he said.  
  
The trainer shot him a glare that would melt an Onix, but he seemed to not even notice. After a moment, she reached into her pocket, and retrieved a bill, which she promptly shoved into the boy's hand. "Here."  
  
"'ey, don't be so upset. Jus' 'cuz I'm a better trainer than you doesn't mean that you ain't good, just that I'm better." he said flippantly.  
  
Rowe walked away, feeling contented with another battle won. He flipped his shoulder-length blonde hair back over his shoulder, and headed toward the nearest pokemon center, not that Gato, his Meowth, would really need it.  
  
Rowe stepped through the entrance of the pokemon center, and looked around. The place was bigger than most of the god-forsaken shacks he'd visited while on the road, but much smaller than the ones he'd grown up around. The center had a few rooms off to the side, presumably for less wealthy trainers to stay the night in, a small kitchen, to feed said trainers, a couple rows of computers, and a small area for trainers to sit around and brag about their pokemon as they recuperated, something which Rowe always thought of as a bit of a contradiction. Rowe approached the counter, and read the sign that sat upon it:  
  
PLEASE RING BELL FOR SERVICE   
  
He looked around for a bell, to no avail. Why put up the bloody sign, when there's no damn bell? Just as he was about to leave, the nurse popped up from behind the counter, arms full of pokeballs. "May I help you?" she asked, setting the pokeballs down on the counter.  
  
"Yeah, my Meowth needs a bit of a refresher. He just got done winning a battle." Rowe loved dropping lines of his and his pokemon's prowess in battle into conversation. It made sure that people knew where he stood on the food chain, the top.  
  
"Okay, just put the pokeball over on that machine over there," she indicated a vaguely copy-machine-like device in the corner, "and press the button marked... umm... oh, the green one."  
  
Yeah, she seemed like a really good nurse. Rowe did as he was instructed, and sat down in the trainer's area while the machine operated. There weren't very many trainers there, and only three were sitting in the trainer's area, but they made it seem as though the place was full, with all the noise pollution they were producing. Rowe couldn't stand that sort of thing, so he decided to shut them up. "You think you're good? I've won the Pokemon league advanced competition three years running." They did shut up after that. Unfortunately, now he had to deal with them staring at him as though he were some sort of miraculous being sent to them from heaven. Well, he couldn't disagree.   
  
  
"Sir? Sir? Your pokemon is ready." The nurse's voice drifted in like morning fog on the harbor, and Rowe grasped at it, but couldn't seem to find hold. What was this sound? It seemed peaceful, but not quite happy. Rowe wondered where it had come from. Then, as suddenly as he had fallen asleep, he awoke. Startled, he looked around, searching his mind for recognition. After a moment, he remembered where he was, and what he was doing there. "Sir?" The nurse persisted.  
  
"Wha? Oh, right. Where is 'e?" Rowe responded, suddenly rather annoyed. He must have been having a rather good dream, but he couldn't seem to remember what it was.  
  
"Right over here, sir." The nurse led him to the counter, atop which his familiar green and blue pokeball sat. "I would have told you sooner, but the transport system was going all loopy, and then we got a call from the Pewter outfit, and then the brownouts started, so I had to switch to the secondary generators, and Chansey kept on with her..." The nurse droned on, as Rowe pretended to listen. Mostly, however, he was concerned with the boy standing behind her, waiting patiently at the counter for his turn, seemingly not noticing Rowe. The boy was almost two meters tall, but not quite, he had short auburn hair, with rather large bangs, which he was currently twirling around his right index finger. The boy had large, piercingly blue eyes, which were partially covered with dark mirrored sunglasses, Rowe felt as though he could get lost in those eyes, if he wasn't careful. The boy's attire was suitably pleasing, with blue jeans, which were tight enough for Rowe to make out every line and curve in his beautifully long legs, a pokeball belt which, surprisingly, had only one pokeball on it, a black t-shirt, which was mostly covered by the denim vest he wore. Placed casually atop his head, was an official Pokemon League hat, with the familiar red and white, as well as the green symbol on what was normally the front, but for this boy happened to be the back.  
  
"...so, anyway," the nurse continued, tearing Rowe's attention away from this vision of perfection, "I turned it on, and the screen said, 'Systems Ready'! Hahahaha!! Get it? 'Systems Ready?"  
  
Rowe smiled weakly, and managed a chuckle. It had probably been a rather boring anecdote anyway, and he wished he could go back to appreciating his newly found bishounen. But, he would have to get his Meowth, without whom he wouldn't be a pokemon trainer. He picked up the pokeball, returned it to it's place on his belt, and turned to see this beautiful creature once more, but was disappointed when he was nowhere to be seen. "Damn." Rowe said, under his breath, and then walked back out the entrance of the pokecenter.  
  
Rowe looked around outside, and noticed that it was getting rather dark outside. He must have been asleep for quite some time, as it had been barely afternoon when he had arrived. Rowe would have to find a place to stay for the night, or else walk through the forest at night. He wouldn't normally be averse to such a venture, but he had heard that Team Rocket had been spotted nearby. Besides, if he stayed, Rowe might have a chance to actually meet his auburn-haired beauty.  
  
  
Unfortunaltely, there was only one hotel in the town, and it was full, due to some sort of Anime lovers convention. Rowe didn't get why those damn people were so into cartoons. It's so childish! Either way, Rowe had to find a place to stay. He'd probably have to stay at the pokecenter, having to share a room with some sort of-... hey, maybe he'd get to stay with him. Rowe figured he just might enjoy this.  
  
Rowe stepped back into the pokecenter, and walked up to the desk. There was still no bell.  
  
"'ey! Can I get some service 'ere?! 'ello?! Is anybody 'ere?!" Rowe called over the counter.  
  
After a minute or so, a Chansey skipped up to the counter, and looked at Rowe questioningly.  
  
"Can I get a room, or is this place full of those anime-freaks, too?" Rowe asked the small pink nurse pokemon.  
  
"Chan-sey." The pokemon grabbed Rowe by the hand, and pulled him across the pokecenter, and over to one of the rooms, the only one without a sign saying 'full' on it.  
  
"I guess this is my room then, eh?" Rowe asked. He then walked into the room without waiting for the pokemon's answer.  
  
The room was rather small, about as big as Rowe's closet was back at home, and had two bunk-beds, one of which was occupied. The other, well, there were clothes and a bag on the top bunk, but it's not like there are rules for this sort of thing, so Rowe tossed the things onto the floor, and hopped onto the bed.  
  
"HEY!" a shrill voice came at him, waking the two other people in the room, and startling Rowe. "YOU!!" Rowe looked to the door, and saw who it was. Oh, no...  
  
"I hoped I'd never see you again, after how rude you were! But now! You take my money and my bed!!" It was the girl Rowe had beaten earlier that day.  
  
"'ey, you weren't in it, so I got in. The bed's mine, now." Rowe answered flippantly.  
  
"Yeah, well you can just go to hell! I hope that ceiling falls in on you tonight!" She yelled.  
  
"Well then I'll 'ave done you a favor, won't I?" Rowe retorted.  
  
"Hmph." The girl picked up her things, and laid down on the bed. Soon, the room was quiet again, and Rowe was free to dream about the boy who's name he didn't even know.   
  
  
It was pitch black in the room that night, as Rowe lay in bed. He just couldn't seem to be able to get to sleep, not that he didn't have reason, however. He couldn't stop thinking about the boy he'd seen earlier. Every time he tried to go to sleep, Rowe would be awakened by a vision of him. Rowe, since trying to sleep wasn't any good, got out of bed, and left the room, to go in search of something to eat. Oddly, there was already a light on in the main lobby of the pokecenter. Rowe couldn't see if anyone was there, so he decided to go find out who else was awake. Hey, maybe it was his newfound obsession. He stepped lightly, so as not to disturb whoever it was, and slowly approached the light, which seemed to be coming from the trainers' area. As he approached, Rowe noticed a shape slowly moving, but he couldn't make out what it was, as it was cast in shadow. He slowly came closer. After a minute or so, Rowe was able to discern the general shape of the whatever-it-was, and it seemed to be a pokemon of some sort. He also noticed the light was coming from a small lamp on the table. As Rowe got a bit closer, he could hear sounds coming from the shape. It seemed to be moaning. Finally, he got close enough to see what it was, it was-  
  
"Gato?" Rowe said, startled. The shape suddenly seemed to split in two. 'Wait a minute,' he thought, 'that's a...' he looked at the other shape, which was still in the shadow, whereas his Meowth, who Rowe was sure that it was, was standing completely still, eyes darting from Rowe to the other form and back again. Then, the non-Gato form ran towards the kitchen, and escaped through the open door. As it went through, Rowe finally figured out what it was.  
  
"A Meowth?" he looked towards Gato, "But why would-" realization came over him, and he suddenly felt quite embarassed, "Oh! I get it! You were- oh, god!" Rowe ran back to his room, as fast as he could.   
  



	2. Owen

  
Owen leaned against the wall, near the entrance of the pokemon center, waiting for his siter, Iggy, as he called her, to arrive. It was cold, though. Not really, totally, unbearably cold, but the sort of cold that dries your lips, and draws your hands to your pockets. Owen was growing impatient, where was she, anyway? Iggy'd told him she'd be there by 2:00, and it was already 2:15! Boy, was it cold. She always did this to him! Ever since they were kids, Iggy would give him a time to meet up, "difinitive", as she'd say, and every time, without fail, she was late.When they had been really young, it was because she was watching trainers battle, which she had done ceaselessly, always wanting to learn new strategies, even though she had no pokemon! Then, when she'd gotten her liscence, it grew worse. She'd actually go out of her way to find trainers to battle! The girl was impossible. Man, it was C-O-L-D, cold! If Iggy could be late, Owen reasoned, he could go inside.  
  
Owen approached the counter, to ask the nurse a question, really just a ploy to talk to somebody. But, when he noticed that the nurse was nowhere to be found, and the bell was missing, Owen leaned back against the counter, and relaxed, twirling his bangs with his fingers, as he often did, when engaging in a thoughtful mood. Owen watched the different people going about their business in the center, some trainers going so far as to sleep on the couch in the trainers' area! He noted that this particular Pokecenter was rather extravagant, and must have been well funded. The Pokecenters Owen had grown up around were lucky to have anything more than a Nurse and a computer. Those places were mere shacks, holes in the ground, even, when compared to this Pokecenter.  
  
As usual, when Owen started on one of his reflective moods, time passed rather quickly. By the time the thought occurred to him to check his watch, it was 6:30. Of course, standing for four hours would usually make someone's legs hurt like hell, but not Owen. He was used to standing and waiting. After all, he lived with Iggy. At that moment, she appeared in front of the Pokecenter. Owen ran out the door, in order to catch up with her, leaving the nurse, and the trainer she was talking to, behind.  
  
  
"Where were you, Iggy?" Owen asked, when he caught up with his sister.  
  
"How many times do I have to tell you?" She demanded, "Don't call me Iggy! Call me Sue, or call me nothing."  
  
"Okay, Nothing." Owen replied, a smirk playing upon his features.  
  
"Oy. Anyway," his sister said, changing the subject, "I was in a battle, and I lost track of time."  
  
"What else is new?" Owen said under his breath. "Let's go. I don't wanna miss the anime convention!" He grabbed his sister's hand, and ran off, pulling her along with him.  
  
  
That night, when the convention finally closed, and everyone was kicked out (some quite literally), Owen started heading for the hotel where he had booked a room. When he'd called in, he'd asked Iggy if she wanted to stay with him, but, for some reason, she preferred to stay at Pokecenters. Probably some sort of hard-core trainer thing. Owen was a trainer, all right, but he had no aspirations of becoming a Pokemon Master, as his sister did. Actually, he was quite content with the one pokemon he had, a Meowth he'd named Neko. They were like best friends. In fact, they were so good of friends that Owen had taken him to the convention. That Meowth had been so interested in the "Samurai Pizza Cats" exibit, that Owen had let him stay for a while. Actually, he'd-  
  
"NEKO!!" Owen reached down to his belt, and confirmed his suspicion; he'd left Neko at the convention!   
  
Owen raced back to the convention building, but it was closed for the night, without so much as a janitor visible to help him. A while back, he'd heard of new Pokegear that would allow trainers to contact their pokemon, even if they were kilometers apart, but Owen had dismissed it as unnecessary. What sort of trainer would be kilometers away from their pokemon? Of course, now he could see the use of such a thing. Hindsight was twenty-twenty, after all. Owen stood for a few minutes, deciding whether to go back to the hotel for the night, or stay at the convention center until they reopened in the morning. Eventually, he decided that Neko would be able to take care of himself, so Owen headed for the hotel.  
  
On the way back, Owen found himself passing the Pokecenter he'd waited for Iggy at that afternoon, and breifly pondered surprising her. He dismissed the idea, as she was probably in her room with another trainer making out. Or something more graphic. Owen pictured walking in and finding her in bed with some guy. He knew just what would happen: He'd get embarrassed, she'd get pissed, and the guy would try to hide under the blanket. Of course, Iggy'd come home to find Owen in bed with guys a few times, but it hadn't gotten any less awkward. Funny, Owen had always thought Iggy wouldn't accept the whole gay thing, but, when he'd finally gotten up the courage to tell her, she had replied with, "And your point is...?"  
  
Owen laughed at the memory.  
  
Just as he was about to leave for the hotel, Owen heard a clatter from the back of the Pokecenter. It sounded like someone had slammed a big door, causing a bunch of metal pots and pans to fall. Then, he heard a screech, "MEEEEEEEEOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWTH!!!!!!!!" Owen ran to the source of the noise, and saw that it was trash cans, not pots and pans, that had fallen, though the big door was correct. The Meowth, however, was not in sight.  
  
After a few minutes of investigation, Owen decided to leave. When he was only a few meters away from the Pokecenter, a figure leaped at him. Owen had no time to think, only to react. He grabbed the form, and was about to throw it to the ground, when he noticed its face.   
  
"Neko?" He asked, "What are you doing here?"  
  
The Meowth cast his eyes downward, and gave no reply.  
  
"Well, then," Owen said, "I guess I should just put you back in your pokeball for the night. You've probably had an exciting day."  
  
Neko blushed, and returned to his pokeball.  
  
  
  



End file.
